The movement of dogs into the United Kingdom, whether through the Pet Travel Scheme or for commercial reasons is a devolved matter.

The Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland has suggested that the Honourable Member write to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in the Northern Ireland Executive.

The following table shows the net value (imports minus exports) of food imports from Africa, for the last ten years, according to HMRC trade statistics[1]:

[1]

The following table shows the net value (imports minus exports) of food imports from EU countries, for the last ten years, according to HMRC trade statistics[1]:

[1]

The Pet Travel Scheme covers pet dogs, cats and ferrets. There are separate rules for the commercial importation of these animals; for example for sale or rehoming.

Any dog, cat or ferret identified as being non-compliant with either Pet Travel Scheme or commercial rules to enter the UK will be placed into quarantine. We hold data on illegally landed animals for the three previous years and do not record the species involved or whether the quarantined animals were a pet travel or commercial movement.

The numbers of dogs, cats and ferrets quarantined were 461 in 2013, 498 in 2014 and 609 in 2015.

The requirement for tick treatment was dropped as part of the harmonisation of the EU pet travel rules for movement and import of non-commercial dogs following a qualitative risk assessment and economic impact assessment for the introduction of Mediterranean Spotted fever (MSF) and the Brown Dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus.

Local Authorities are responsible for the prosecution of individuals illegally importing puppies into Great Britain. In addition Port of Dover Police can issue formal warnings for illegal landing of puppies including where animals have been concealed. It is for the local authority concerned to decide if it wishes to undertaken a prosecution in any of the cases of illegal importation identified during the pilot.

The Dogs Trust pilot quarantine initiative began on 2 December 2015 and is expected to continue until the end of May 2016. As explained in my reply to the honourable Member for North Durham, Kevan Jones, on 11 March 2016, PQ UIN 30363, the Animal and Plant Health Agency will carry out an assessment of the effectiveness of the initiative following its conclusion. This assessment will be made publicly available and will be based on information provided by all parties involved in the pilot. This will include a summary of all enforcement action that has been taken. The report may not, however, be able to comment on investigations that may be underway.

Government Buying Standards for food and catering services are mandatory for central government and encouraged in the wider public sector. The standards require that all food served must have been produced in compliance with UK legal standards for animal welfare.

To protect the supply of food to central government and other public bodies, including prisons and the military, the only exception is for the procurement of pig and poultry meat. This means that in the event that UK market conditions impose a significant increase in costs that cannot be compensated for by savings elsewhere, pig and poultry meat must as a minimum meet EU standards and the reasons for not applying UK welfare standards must be recorded and signed off by a senior official in the organisation concerned.

Local Authorities are responsible for the prosecution of individuals illegally importing puppies into Great Britain. In addition Port of Dover Police can issue formal warnings for illegal landing of puppies including where animals have been concealed. It is for the local authority concerned to decide if it wishes to undertake a prosecution in any of the cases of illegal importation identified during the pilot.

The Dogs Trust pilot quarantine initiative began on 2 December 2015 and is expected to continue until the end of May 2016. As explained in my reply to the honourable Member for North Durham, Kevan Jones, on 11 March 2016, PQ UIN 30363, the Animal and Plant Health Agency will carry out an assessment of the effectiveness of the initiative following its conclusion. This assessment will be made publicly available and will be based on information provided by all parties involved in the pilot. This will include a summary of all enforcement action that has been taken. The report may not, however, be able to comment on investigations that may be underway.

The HMRC data has been provided on a ‘country of despatch’ basis, rather than the requested ‘country of origin’ basis, as ‘country of despatch’ trade data is considered a more accurate representation of actual levels of trade.

The table below shows the value of dairy produce imported into the UK, for the last five years, according to HMRC trade statistics:

I welcome the Dogs Trust initiative to pay the quarantine costs of dogs and puppies identified at Dover as being not compliant to enter Great Britain under the EU Pet Travel Scheme. Since 2 December 2015, 108 puppies have been licensed into the quarantine facilities, mainly due to concerns that puppies were under the minimum age for travelling.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency will carry out an assessment of the effectiveness of the initiative following its conclusion.

All fruit and vegetables must meet the EU marketing standards in Regulation 543/2011. These standards require that fruit and vegetables which are intended to be sold fresh to the consumer, may only be marketed if they are of sound, fair and marketable quality and if the country of origin is indicated. Horticultural Marketing Inspectors are part of the Rural Payments Agency and carry out these inspections for Her Majesty’s Government.

The Horticultural Marketing Inspectors have no reason to believe that these certificates do not contain correct information. In 2012, the European Commission announced that their research into Israeli/Palestinian export certificates “did not reveal any evidence of non-conformity regarding the indication of the country of origin”. The Commission also reaffirmed the requirement that the origin needed to be clearly indicated whether it was Israel or an Occupied Territory.

The international rules for the import and export of hunting trophies are established under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). A hunting trophy of an endangered species can only be exported if the exporting country is satisfied that the hunt was both legal and sustainable. CITES controls are implemented at an EU-wide level and the UK works with other EU Member States to agree a collective approach.

In light of growing concerns about the sustainability of the hunting of some species, the EU has introduced stricter controls on the import of hunting trophies of six species, including lions and African elephants. These require that both the exporting and importing country must be satisfied that the animal was hunted sustainably. As a result the import of hunting trophies of certain species from certain countries is currently prohibited by the EU, including lion trophies from Cameroon and Mozambique and elephant trophies from Tanzania. Imports of lion and elephant trophies from Zimbabwe are currently allowed into the EU as they are considered to be sustainable. The import of lion trophies from Tanzania is under consideration by the Scientific Review Group, which brings together the Scientific Authorities of EU Member States to provide advice on CITES matters and which is expected to decide at its next meeting whether the importation of lion trophies from Tanzania should be prohibited.

A full list of EU CITES trade suspensions can be found at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32015R0736

I recognise that there are real concerns about the impact of trophy hunting on lion conservation. As I announced in Parliament on 24 November 2015, the Government will ban lion trophy imports within the next two years unless there are improvements in the way hunting takes place in certain countries, judged against strict criteria. We will work with our European and international partners, and experts in the field, to reach a common approach to this issue.

The attached table provides imports of meat from New Zealand for January to November 2015, according to HMRC trade statistics, broken down by 8 digit commodity code. This represents the most detailed level of data available.

I recognise that many UK pig producers are struggling with a very tough period of low prices. The Government is providing support through our reforms to tax averaging. We also supported the activation of private storage aid on 4 January to remove pigmeat temporarily from the EU market.

We are working with the industry to open up new market opportunities at home and abroad. China offers huge potential for the future of the food and farming industry. Since 2010, British food and drink exports to China have more than doubled to £280 million, the fastest-growing of which are dairy products, pork, beer and tea. 2016 will be the Year of GREAT British Food, opening a long-term campaign of trade missions and events in the UK that showcase British products and help farm businesses to grow and thrive.

Defra secured a deal in principle for trade in trotters during the Secretary of State's recent visit to China and the underpinning detailed arrangements are being finalised.

The requirement to ensure that pet dogs travel to Great Britain on approved routes is the responsibility of the relevant transport companies. It is a condition of their approval that the transport companies check 100% of pets declared by their owners for compliance with the EU Pet Travel Scheme.

The table below lists the number of audits completed by APHA staff on pet checkers and the number of fails identified during the audits.

The data on the number of pets travelling from 2012/2014 was taken from the PETS database. We rely upon Pet checkers who operate upon behalf of APHA to complete the database and so cannot guarantee the accuracy of the data. A different system of recording the number of pets entering Great Britain in 2015 was implemented in Jan 2015. However, we still rely on pet checkers to provide this info and so cannot guarantee the accuracy of the data.

Of the pets found not to be in compliance with the entry rules, these pets were either detained until their compliance could be established, re-exported or placed into quarantine.

Information is available for live birds and hatching eggs. The number imported from each EU Member State in 2015 was as follows:

Information is available for live birds and hatching eggs. The number imported from each EU Member State in 2015 was as follows:

For imports under the Pet Travel Scheme, a record is made of the country that prepared the relevant documentation. This will not always be the country of origin.

The majority of pets entering Great Britain have UK pet passports, suggesting that they are returning with their owners from a holiday or visit abroad.

Data is collated by a range of third parties, typically transport companies approved to carry pet animals and it is not possible for the Government to guarantee the accuracy of the statistics.

I have attached the available information on commercial and non-commercial imports of dogs for the years 2013, 2014 and 2015.